World Cup: Argentina, Colombia near World Cup berths

AFP, MONTEVIDEO

Fri, Sep 06, 2013 - Page 18

Argentina and Colombia will look to wrap up qualification for next year’s World Cup as South America’s battle for places at the finals in Brazil enters the home stretch.

Leaders Argentina have a bye for today’s round of fixtures, but will be able to guarantee their 11th consecutive World Cup appearance with victory over bottom team Paraguay in Asuncion next Tuesday.

Second-placed Colombia will go level on points with Argentina and stand on the threshold of a first World Cup appearance for 16 years if they defeat third-placed Ecuador in Barranquilla today.

Colombia’s preparations for their clash with Ecuador have been disrupted by an injury to star striker Radamel Falcao, who twisted an ankle in Monaco’s clash with Marseille in Ligue 1 last weekend.

Colombia team doctor Carlos Ulloa said Falcao was responding well to treatment, but rated the forward as doubtful for today’s showdown with their bitter rivals at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Melendez.

Today’s encounter is likely to be an emotion-filled affair, with Ecuador returning to competitive action for the first time since the shock death of popular international Christian Benitez, who died suddenly of heart failure in July.

Benitez scored the winning goal in Ecudor’s 1-0 victory when the two sides met in Quito earlier in the qualifiers and coach Reinaldo Rueda said his grieving squad is still struggling to come to terms with the loss of the striker.

“These last three or four weeks have been very tough and intense, as well as extremely painful,” Rueda, whose father passed away shortly before Benitez’s death, told FIFA.com in a recent interview.

Rueda, who is Colombian, also acknowledged he expects to feel mixed emotions as he returns to his homeland as Ecuador manager.

“My feelings are difficult [to reconcile]. It will be a conflict from an emotional point of view, even from a family one... However, we’re playing for ourselves and our qualification,” he said.

With Ecuador and Colombia setting the pace behind Argentina, where along with Chile they are in pole position to secure one of the top four automatic qualifying places, behind them a fierce battle for fifth is unfolding.

Two-time World Cup winners Uruguay, beaten semi-finalists in 2010, are in a ferocious dogfight to qualify which leaves them with precious little margin for error as they prepare to face Peru in Lima.

Peru could leapfrog over Uruguay with a win, which would most likely leave Uruguay needing to take points from a difficult run-in against Colombia, Ecuador and Argentina to keep their qualifying bid alive.

Uruguay’s Paris Saint-Germain striker Edinson Cavani said today’s match in Lima and Tuesday’s game against the Colombians in Montevideo could prove decisive.